Disasters - a growing problem around the world.It's a fact - disasters are on the rise around the world. According to one estimate, the 1990s saw a tripling of disasters and a nine-fold increase in economic costs when compared with the 1960s. Climate change,earthquake,floods,storm increasing concentrations of people in vulnerable areas, and political and economic instability are all contributing factors.
The challenge is - how do we deal with this growing dilemma?

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Monday, March 31, 2008

Mumbai: The Gateway of India will be wiped off the Mumbai skyline. Bhelpuri at Chowpatty will become the stuff of grandmother’s tales. No flights will take off from Chhatrapati Shivaji Airport. No couple will canoodle on the Marine Drive promenade and even Shah Rukh Khan will not be able to resist being evicted from his home. Ninety-two years from now, all these landmarks of Mumbai will be under water. That’s the apocalypse scenario drawn up in a report titled ‘Climate Migrants in South Asia: Estimates and Solutions’ that has been commissioned by Greenpeace, a non-governmental organisation. Prepared by climate expert and professor of humanities at IIT Chennai Sudhir Chella Rajan, the report says that a potential increase in temperatures by 4 to 5 degrees due to greenhouse emissions at the current rate would mean a corresponding rise in sea levels of up to five metres by 2100. This, in turn, would imply that approximately 50 million Indians would be rendered homeless and become ‘climate migrants’. “The low elevation coastal zone (LECZ), which comprises the coastal region that is less than 10 metres above average sea level, is obviously at direct risk. Even prime commercial properties like the Backbay complex and the Bandra-Kurla Complex fall into this category. It’s not just the average Koli who will be affected but also superstars like SRK, whose Bandra Bandstand bungalow Mannat would be on the wrong side of the coastline once the sea level rises,’’ said Greenpeace activist Shweta Ganesh Kumar. Greenpeace envisages that human migration 92 years hence would be equivalent to 10 times the movement seen during Partition. “This means that even the limited space in your Virar-Churchgate local will be affected,’’ Kumar said. However, Rakesh Kumar of Neeri felt the figures in the Greenpeace study seemed exaggerated. “This can create a scare in the minds of the people. There will be submersion, but only in the low-lying areas. At most, the foundations of buildings near the shore may be weakened due to saline formation,’’ he said. Mumbaikars get ‘blue’ future alert Mumbai: Despite naysayers, Greenpeace activists are on a mission to raise awareness about the impending doom. Around 40 Greenpeace activists or ‘Blue Busters’ sporting symbolic blue raincoats hit the city streets on Sunday. Blue cautionary signs, saying ‘Climate Change Zone Ahead’ with illustrations of drowning individuals bearing a distinct resemblance to traditional traffic signs, were put up along the Bandra-Kurla Complex and other areas. Greenpeace Climate and Energy campaigner Brikesh Singh said, “We want to alert Mumbaikars to the blue future they have in store if steps are not taken to fight global warming. If we don’t act now, our city of dreams will be caught up in a never-ending nightmare, and we are the last generation that can prevent this from happening.’’ The ‘Blue Alert’ signs were part of a Greenpeace campaign launched in Mumbai, Kolkata, Chennai, Kochi, Panaji and Puri. “The campaign aims at bringing home the reality of climate change to the common man and empowering people to force their MPs to speak out about the issue of climate change,’’ said Singh. Greenpeace activists will slap token ‘eviction-warning’ notices on the doors of structures that may be affected. These include the homes of actors Shah Rukh Khan, Rekha and Farhan Akhtar.mansi.choksi@timesgroup.com